English Nature Journal Assignment

This section will help you when preparing your manuscript for initial submission and resubmission to Nature Chemistry. Please ensure that you familiarise yourself with our editorial policies as outlined in this section before submitting your work. An overview of key information on submitting primary research is also available in our brief guide to manuscript submission in PDF format.

For information on our aims & scope, as well as our content types, please refer to the About the journal section.

Once you have prepared your manuscript, the How to submit section will provide you with information on the submission system, while our editorial criteria and processes are described in the Peer review and publication section.

Editorial and publishing policies

As part of Nature Research, Nature Chemistry follows a number of common policies as detailed in our authors and referees site and we request that our authors and prospective authors abide by them.

In particular, when you submit a manuscript to Nature Chemistry its content must not significantly overlap with any other papers from you or your co-authors’ groups that are under consideration or in press at other journals, with the exception of conference abstracts. We do, however, support the posting of preprints.

If you submit a related manuscript to any other journal while the submission to Nature Chemistry is under consideration, you must send us a copy of the related manuscript and details of its progress towards publication. We reserve the right to decline publication of a paper even after it has been accepted if it becomes apparent that there are serious problems with the scientific content or violations of our publishing policies.

Initial submission

We do not require manuscripts to be formatted in Nature Chemistry’s style for initial submissions, as long as the study is described in a fashion that is suitable for editorial assessment and peer review.

You can submit either a single PDF file that includes the manuscript text and any display items, or separate files for text, figures and tables, however we strongly encourage authors to incorporate the manuscript text and figures into a single file with the figures (and associated captions) inserted within the text at the appropriate positions. Besides the manuscript files, you should also provide a cover letter addressed to the editors and any supplementary information.

If you wish to opt for double-blind peer review (in which peer reviewers are not shown the author identity or affiliation) please ensure that you write your manuscript in a way that does not reveal your identity.

If you are unsure whether your Article is in scope for Nature Chemistry, you can email the editors with a pre-submission enquiry, providing at least an abstract of your work. Please note that for all editorial assessments other than scope (i.e. for a determination as to whether your Article would be sent out for peer review), the full text is required, and for this you must proceed with formal submission through our online submission system.

Manuscript files

The manuscript file must contain the following essential information:

Names and affiliations of all co-authors. The primary affiliation for each author should be the institution where the majority of their work was done. If an author has subsequently moved, the current address may also be stated. The corresponding author should be identified with an asterisk.

A detailed description of the findings of the work (by means of text and display items), including sufficient information on methods and materials which would enable replication of the study by a fellow expert. As a guideline, the text should be structured in broad sections (abstract, introduction, results, conclusions, methods).

References to previous works.

For reference, the complete formatting requirements are detailed below, and information on sections, length limits and figure limits is detailed here according to content type. While we do not ask you to comply with these requirements for initial submissions, they will be enforced prior to acceptance of the work.

You can submit the manuscript file in PDF, Word or TeX/LaTeX formats. If submitting in TeX/LaTeX, you must provide a single file containing text, figures and references, as our system cannot accept BibTeX bibliography files. If you wish to use BibTeX, please copy the reference list from the .bbl file that BibTeX generates and paste it into the main manuscript .tex file (and delete the associated \bibliography and \bibliographystyle commands). You should also ensure that the complete .tex file compiles successfully on their own system with no errors or warnings, before submission. For other submission formats, if figures and tables are not supplied with the text in a single file, they can be provided in individual files.

Supplementary information

Any information (including display items) not directly related to the description of the main findings, but needed to properly understand and replicate the study, should be included in a supplementary information file, which can be submitted as a PDF, Word or TeX/LaTeX document. The supplementary information document will be sent to peer reviewers alongside the manuscript file.

Language

Nature Chemistry is read by scientists from diverse backgrounds. In addition, many are not native English speakers. Authors should, therefore, give careful thought to how their findings may be communicated clearly. Although a shared basic knowledge of chemistry may be assumed, please bear in mind that the language and concepts that are standard in one subfield may be unfamiliar to non-specialists. Thus, technical jargon should be avoided as far as possible and clearly explained where its use is unavoidable.

Abbreviations, particularly those that are not standard, should also be kept to a minimum. Chemical abbreviations should be defined in the text or legends at their first occurrence, and abbreviations should be used thereafter. The background, rationale and main conclusions of the study should be clearly explained. Titles and abstracts in particular should be written in language that will be readily intelligible to any scientist.

No paper will be rejected for poor language. However, if you would like assistance with writing your manuscript, you can consider asking a colleague whose native language is English for their input and/or use a professional editing service such as those provided by our affiliates Nature Research Editing Service or American Journal Experts. The use of a language editing service has no bearing on editorial decisions and is not a requirement for publication.

After acceptance, a copy editor may make further changes so that the text and figures are readable and clear to those outside the field, and so that papers conform to our style. Nature Chemistry uses British English spelling

Cover letter

Providing a cover letter can help you convey the work's importance to the editors and explain why you consider it appropriate for the diverse readership of Nature Chemistry. You must disclose details of any related manuscripts that you have under consideration or in press elsewhere, and you can suggest potential reviewers for the editors to consider (reasons as to why they are appropriate and explanations of their expertise are welcomed). Please do not suggest current collaborators. Authors may also request for a limited number of individuals to be excluded from peer review but must explain why they think their exclusion is appropriate. Finally, you should indicate whether you have had any prior discussions with a Nature Chemistry editor about the work described in the manuscript.

Please note that you must provide a cover letter that includes the affiliation and contact information for all authors if choosing the double-blind peer review option.

The cover letter is not transmitted to peer reviewers.

Formatting

For first submissions (i.e. not revised manuscripts), we strongly encourage authors to incorporate the manuscript text and figures into a single file (Microsoft Word, TeX/LaTeX or PDF) up to 30 MB in size with the figures (and associated captions) inserted within the text at the appropriate positions. Supplementary Information should be combined and supplied as a separate file, preferably in PDF format. Where possible the first page of each Supplementary Information file should include the title of the manuscript and the author list.

Alternatively authors can follow the guidelines outlined below, which must be followed when submitting files for revisions

The manuscript text file should include the following parts, in order: a title page with author names, affiliations and contact information (the corresponding author should be identified with an asterisk); the sections required for each content type, then Acknowledgements (optional), Author Contributions, Competing Interests statement, References, Figure Legends, and Tables.

Word

Nature Chemistry does not use a manuscript template for Word documents. The manuscript file should be formatted as double-spaced, single-column text without justification. Pages should be numbered using an Arabic numeral in the footer of each page. Standard fonts are recommended and the 'symbols' font should be used for representing Greek characters.

TeX/LaTeX

Authors submitting LaTeX files may use any of the standard class files such as article.cls, revtex.cls or amsart.cls. Non-standard fonts should be avoided; please use the default Computer Modern fonts. For the inclusion of graphics, we recommend graphicx.sty. Please use numerical references only for citations. There is no need to spend time visually formatting the manuscript: Nature Chemistry style will be imposed automatically when the paper is prepared for publication. References should be included within the manuscript file itself as our system cannot accept BibTeX bibliography files. If you wish to use BibTeX, please copy the reference list from the .bbl file that BibTeX generates and paste it into the main manuscript .tex file (and delete the associated \bibliography and \bibliographystyle commands). You should also ensure that the complete .tex file compiles successfully on their own system with no errors or warnings, before submission.

Chemical nomenclature and abbreviations

Molecular structures are identified by bold, Arabic numerals assigned in order of presentation in the text. Once identified in the main text or a figure, compounds may be referred to by their name, by a defined abbreviation, or by the bold Arabic numeral (as long as the compound is referred to consistently as one of these three).

When possible, authors should refer to chemical compounds and biomolecules using systematic nomenclature, preferably using IUPAC. Standard chemical and biological abbreviations should be used. Unconventional or specialist abbreviations should be defined at their first occurrence in the text.

Methods

Authors must ensure that their manuscripts include adequate experimental and characterization data necessary for others in the field to reproduce their work. The Methods section in the main text is limited to 800 words and should include those methods considered to be the most essential to the paper. Additional methods, experimental procedures and characterization data should be placed in the Supplementary Information, which will be made available to referees during the peer-review process.

1. General methods

Descriptions of standard protocols and experimental procedures should appear in Supplementary Information. Commercial suppliers of reagents or instrumentation should be identified only when the source is critical to the outcome of the experiments. Sources for kits should be identified in the Methods section or Supplementary Information.

2. Synthetic protocols

Experimental protocols that describe the synthesis of new compounds should be included. The systematic name of the compound and its bold Arabic numeral are used as the heading for the experimental protocol. Thereafter, the compound is represented by its assigned bold numeral. Authors should describe the experimental protocol in detail, referring to amounts of reagents in parentheses, when possible (e.g. 1.03 g, 0.100 mmol). Standard abbreviations for reagents and solvents are encouraged. Safety hazards posed by reagents or protocols should be identified clearly. Isolated mass and percent yields should be reported at the end of each protocol.

Characterization of chemical and biomolecular materials

Nature Chemistry is committed to publishing the highest-quality research. Manuscripts submitted to the journal will be held to rigorous standards with respect to experimental methods and characterization of new compounds. Authors must provide adequate data to support their assignment of identity and purity for each new compound described in the manuscript. Authors should provide a statement confirming the source, identity and purity of known compounds that are central to the scientific study, even if they are purchased or resynthesized using published methods.

1. Chemical identity

Chemical identity for organic and organometallic compounds should be established through spectroscopic analysis. Standard peak listings (see formatting guidelines below) for 1H NMR and proton-decoupled 13C NMR should be provided for all new compounds. Other NMR data should be reported (31P NMR, 19F NMR, etc.) when appropriate. For new materials, authors should also provide mass spectral data to support molecular weight identity. High-resolution mass spectral (HRMS) data are preferred. UV or IR spectral data may be reported for the identification of characteristic functional groups, when appropriate. Melting-point ranges should be provided for crystalline materials. Specific rotations may be reported for chiral compounds. Authors should provide references, rather than detailed procedures, for known compounds, unless their protocols represent a departure from or improvement on published methods.

2. Combinatorial compound libraries

Authors describing the preparation of combinatorial libraries should include standard characterization data for a diverse panel of library components.

3. Biomolecular identity

For new biopolymeric materials (oligosaccharides, peptides, nucleic acids, etc.), direct structural analysis by NMR spectroscopic methods may not be possible. In these cases, authors must provide evidence of identity based on sequence (when appropriate) and mass spectral characterization.

4. Biological constructs

Authors should provide sequencing or functional data that validates the identity of their biological constructs (plasmids, fusion proteins, site-directed mutants, etc.) either in the manuscript text or the Methods section, as appropriate.

5. Sample purity

Evidence of sample purity is requested for each new compound. Methods for purity analysis depend on the compound class. For most organic and organometallic compounds, purity may be demonstrated by high-field 1H NMR or 13C NMR data, although elemental analysis (±0.4%) is encouraged for small molecules. Quantitative analytical methods including chromatographic (GC, HPLC, etc.) or electrophoretic analyses may be used to demonstrate purity for small molecules and polymeric materials.

6. Spectral data

Detailed spectral data for new compounds should be provided in list form (see below) in the Methods section or Supplementary Methods. Figures containing spectra generally will not be published as a manuscript figure unless the data are directly relevant to the central conclusions of the paper. Authors are encouraged to include high-quality images of spectral data for key compounds in the Supplementary Information. Specific NMR assignments should be listed after integration values only if they were unambiguously determined by multidimensional NMR or decoupling experiments. Authors should provide information about how assignments were made in a general Methods section.

Manuscripts reporting new structures of small molecules from crystallographic analysis should be accompanied by a standard crystallographic information file (.cif) and a structural figure with probability ellipsoids should be included in the main supplementary information file. The structure factors for each structure should also be submitted, preferably embedded in the main .cif file, although they may be provided as a separate .hkl and/or .fcf file. Use of the 2014 version of the program SHELXL, which embeds the structure factors information in the main .cif file, is encouraged. The structure factors and structural output must be checked using IUCr's CheckCIF routine and a PDF copy of the output included with the submission, explaining any A- or B-level alerts. Crystallographic data for small molecules should be submitted to the Cambridge Structural Database and the deposition number referenced in the manuscript. Full access must be provided on publication.

8. NMR and cryo-EM data

Manuscripts reporting new structures from NMR or cryo-EM data should contain a table summarizing structural and refinement statistics. Templates for such tables describing cryo-EM or NMR are available. For NMR structures, to facilitate assessment of the quality of the structural data, a stereo image of a portion of the electron density of the superimposed lowest energy structures (>10) should be provided with the submitted manuscript. If the reported structure represents a novel overall fold, a stereo image of the entire structure (as a backbone trace) should also be provided. For cryo-EM structures, a representative micrograph showing individual particles should be provided in the submission.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements should be brief, and should not include thanks to anonymous referees and editors, or effusive comments. Grant or contribution numbers may be acknowledged.

Author contributions

Nature Chemistry requires an Author Contribution statement as described in the Authorship section of our Editorial policies.

Competing interests

Submission of a signed Competing Interests Statement is required for all content of the journal. This statement will be published at the end of Letters, Articles, Reviews and Progress articles, whether or not a competing interest is reported. For all other content types, a statement will be published only if a competing interest is reported. In cases where the authors declare a competing interest, a short statement to that effect is published as part of the article, which is linked to a more detailed version available online.

References

References should be numbered sequentially first throughout the text, then in tables, followed by figures and, finally, boxes; that is, references that only appear in tables, figures or boxes should be last in the reference list. Only one publication is given for each number. Only papers that have been published or accepted by a named publication or recognized preprint server should be in the numbered list. Published conference abstracts, numbered patents and research datasets that have been assigned a digital object identifier may be included in the reference list. Grant details and acknowledgments are not permitted as numbered references. Footnotes are not used.

Nature Chemistry uses standard Nature referencing style. All authors should be included in reference lists unless there are more than five, in which case only the first author should be given, followed by 'et al.'. Authors should be listed last name first, followed by a comma and initials (followed by full stops) of given names. Article titles should be in Roman text, the first word of the title should be capitalized and the title written exactly as it appears in the work cited, ending with a full stop. Book titles should be given in italics and all words in the title should have initial capitals. Journal names are italicized and abbreviated (with full stops) according to common usage. Volume numbers and the subsequent comma appear in bold.

For book citations, the publisher and city of publication are required. Example: Jones, R. A. L. Soft Machines: Nanotechnology and Life Ch. 3 (Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, 2004).

Research datasets may be cited in the reference list if they have been assigned digital object identifiers (DOIs) and include authors, title, publisher (repository name), identifier (DOI expressed as a URL). Example:

Figure legends begin with a brief title for the whole figure and continue with a short description of each panel and the symbols used, focusing on describing what is shown in the figure and keeping methodological details to a minimum. The meaning of all error bars and how they were calculated must be described. Each legend should total no more than 200 words.

Tables

Please submit tables at the end of your text document (in Word or TeX/LaTeX, as appropriate). Tables that include statistical analysis of data should describe their standards of error analysis and ranges in a table legend.

Figures

Figures should be numbered separately with Arabic numerals in the order of occurrence in the text of the manuscript. One- or two-column format figures are preferred. When appropriate, figures should include error bars. A description of the statistical treatment of error analysis should be included in the figure or scheme legend.

Please note that schemes are not used; sequences of chemical reactions or experimental procedures should be submitted as figures, with appropriate captions. A limited number of uncaptioned graphics depicting chemical structures — each labelled with their name, by a defined abbreviation, or by the bold Arabic numeral — may be included in a manuscript. Although suggestions can be made by the authors, the final decision regarding the positioning and grouping of such structures rests with the editorial team.

Figure lettering should be in a clear, sans-serif typeface (for example, Helvetica); if possible, the same typeface in approximately the same font size should be used for all figures in a paper. Use symbol font for Greek letters. All display items should be on a white background, and should avoid excessive boxing, unnecessary colour, spurious decorative effects (such as three-dimensional 'skyscraper' histograms) and highly pixelated computer drawings. The vertical axis of histograms should not be truncated to exaggerate small differences. Labelling must be of sufficient size and contrast to be readable, even after appropriate reduction. The thinnest lines in the final figure should be no smaller than one point wide. Reasonable requests to enlarge figures will be considered, but editors will make the final decision on figure size. Authors will see a proof of figures.

Figures divided into parts should be labelled with a lower-case bold a, b, and so on, in the same type size as used elsewhere in the figure. Lettering in figures should be in lower-case type, with only the first letter of each label capitalized. Units should have a single space between the number and the unit, and follow SI nomenclature (for example, ms rather than msec) or the nomenclature common to a particular field. Thousands should be separated by commas (1,000). Unusual units or abbreviations should be spelled out in full or defined in the legend. Scale bars should be used rather than magnification factors, with the length of the bar defined in the legend rather than on the bar itself. In legends, please use visual cues rather than verbal explanations, such as "open red triangles".

Unnecessary figures should be avoided: data presented in small tables or histograms, for instance, can generally be stated briefly in the text instead. Figures should not contain more than one panel unless the parts are logically connected; each panel of a multipart figure should be sized so that the whole figure can be reduced by the same amount and reproduced on the printed page at the smallest size at which essential details are visible.

When a manuscript is accepted for publication, we will ask for high-resolution figure files, possibly in a different electronic format. This information will be included in the acceptance letter. See below for details of digital image production and submission.

Equations

Equations and mathematical expressions should be provided in the main text of the paper. Equations that are referred to in the text are identified by parenthetical numbers, such as (1), and are referred to in the manuscript as "equation (1)".

Supplementary information

Supplementary information should be submitted with the manuscript and will be sent to referees during peer review. Supplementary information is not copy-edited by Nature Chemistry, so authors should ensure that it is clearly and succinctly presented, and that the style and terminology conform with the rest of the paper.

The submission of supplementary data sets relating to the characterization of chemical compounds is also encouraged, such as raw spectroscopic data from NMR, UV/Vis and IR experiments, and related techniques. Separate files should be submitted for each compound — at the present time, there is no preferred format and all types are welcome.

The following guidelines detail the creation, citation and submission of supplementary information. please follow these guidelines, or publication may be delayed. Please note that modification of supplementary information after the paper is published requires a formal correction, so authors are encouraged to check their supplementary information carefully before submitting the final version.

Designate each item as Supplementary Table, Figure, Video, Audio, Note, Data, Discussion, Equations or Methods as appropriate. Number Supplementary Tables and Figures as, for example, "Supplementary Table 1". This numbering should be separate from that used in tables and figures appearing in the main printed article. Supplementary Note or Methods should not be numbered; titles for these are optional.

Refer to each piece of supplementary material at the appropriate point(s) in the main article. Be sure to include the word "Supplementary" each time one is mentioned. Please do not refer to individual panels of supplementary figures.

Use the following examples as a guide (note: abbreviate "Figure" as "Fig." when in the middle of a sentence).

"Table 1 provides a selected subset of the most active compounds. The entire list of 96 compounds can be found as Supplementary Table 1."

With the exception of spreadsheet, audio, video and compound characterisation data files, please submit the supplementary information as a single combined PDF, if possible. If necessary, we can accept any of these formats:

.txt | Plain ASCII text

.gif | GIF image

.htm | HTML document

.doc | MS Word document

.jpg | JPEG image

.swf | Flash movie

.xls | MS Excel spreadsheet

.pdf | Adobe Acrobat file

.mov | QuickTime movie

.ppt | MS Power Point slide

.wav | Audio file

File sizes should be as small as possible, with a maximum size of 30 MB, so that they can be downloaded quickly. The combined total size of all files must not exceed 150 MB.

All panels of a figure or table (for example, Fig. 1a, b and c) should be combined into one file; please do not send as separate files. Image files should be just large enough to view when the screen resolution is set to 640 x 480 pixels.

Remember to include a brief title and legend (preferably incorporated into the image file to appear near the image) as part of every electronic figure submitted, and a title as part of every table.

Audio and video files should use a frame size no larger than 320 x 240 pixels. The file size of each should not exceed 30 MB.

Further queries about submission and preparation of supplementary information should be directed to nchem@nature.com.

Resubmission

If you have been invited to revise and resubmit your paper to Nature Chemistry, you should follow the instructions provided by the editor in their decision email. You will be expected to provide: a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the issues raised by the peer reviewers; a response to each of the reviewers (replying to their comments in a point-by-point fashion); and a cover letter that provides any additional confidential information or concern for the editors.

In addition, if your paper has been accepted, in principle, for publication, the revised manuscript must comply with the formatting requirements as specified by the editor and detailed above, with the length and figure limits appropriate to the content type, and with the following requirements.

Preparing production quality figures

Please read the digital images integrity and standards policy. When possible, we prefer to use original digital figures to ensure the highest-quality reproduction in the journal. For optimal results, prepare figures at actual size for the journal. Figures that do not meet these standards will not reproduce well and publication may be delayed until we receive high-resolution images. We cannot offer to provide corrected reprints with higher image quality if only poor quality images were supplied at accept stage.

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to publish any figures or illustrations that are protected by copyright, including figures published elsewhere and pictures taken by professional photographers. The journal cannot publish images downloaded from the internet without appropriate permission.

When creating and submitting digital files, please follow the guidelines found here.

Chemical structures

Chemical structures should be produced using ChemDraw or a similar program. All chemical compounds must be assigned a bold, Arabic numeral in the order in which the compounds are presented in the manuscript text. Figures containing chemical structures should be submitted in a size appropriate for direct incorporation into the printed journal. Authors using ChemDraw should make use of our journal template or use the preferences below, submitting the final files at 100% as .cdx files. Creating molecules within or copying them into the template will ensure that most of our journal style points are followed. For more information, please also review our Chemical Style Guide.

Stereo diagrams should be presented for divergent 'wall-eyed' viewing, with the two panels separated by ∼5.5 cm. In the final accepted version of the manuscript, the stereo images should be submitted at their final print size.

Deposition of chemical compound information to PubChem

For manuscripts that describe original research, the Nature Chemistry acceptance process includes automated deposition of the article's chemical compound data to PubChem by the Nature Chemistry staff. In the online version of the published paper, each chemical compound will be linked to a Compound Data Page, which includes links to PubChem and further information related to the compound. At the time of submission of the final revised version of the manuscript, authors should provide two files:

1. A single ChemDraw file (.cdx) that contains all of the structures in the manuscript that are identified with bold Arabic numerals (see Chemical Structure Display Items below). Reagents and solvents should not be included, and the structure of each compound should be 'grouped' with its assigned numeral. If the paper contains more chemical structures than will fit on a single page in ChemDraw, additional pages should be created within the same file.

2. A tab-delimited text (.txt) (or Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, .xls) file with two columns that associates the bold numeral of each compound included in the ChemDraw file with its IUPAC (or systematic) name. Widely recognized biochemical compounds and natural products may be referred to by their common names.

Graphical abstract

A graphical abstract, which summarizes the manuscript in a visual way, is designed to attract the attention of readers in the table of contents of the journal. Graphical abstracts are published with Articles, Reviews and Perspectives. The graphical abstract may contain chemical structures or images. Textual statements should be kept to a minimum. Colour graphical abstracts are encouraged and will be published at no additional charge. The image must be sized to fit in a rectangle of dimensions 90 mm wide × 50 mm high. The graphic should be submitted as a single file using a standard file format (see below) and will be published in the table of contents in print and online. All graphical abstracts should be submitted with a white background and imagery should fill the available width, whenever possible. Please see figure guidelines for resolution requirements.

Costs

There is a charge of US$620 for the first colour figure and US$310 for each additional colour figure. Please note that we are unable offer to publish greyscale in print and colour online. There are no other submission fees or page charges.

Below are the weekly journal prompts given to students, followed by an example of a high-quality response produced by a student in the Spring 2010 semester. All student responses have been used with permission. Any small modifications to the original student responses were done to address copyright issues, protect privacy in accordance with institutional review board requirements, or correct minor formatting errors. Every effort was made to present the work as originally created.

1) Describe the nature place you have selected. Indicate its physical location relative to streets and/or landmarks. Estimate its size. Characterize its boundaries. Describe its vegetation and trees, any physical structures or surfaces, and any fauna you observe. (You do not have to know the scientific names of the plant species or provide technical details; you can describe these components in layman’s terms.) What are the place’s most distinctive attributes? How do you think humans use this place? How do you think animals use it? Provide at least two digital photos of the location. (25 points)

Student: Rachel Schoenianhttp://rsnjexample2.blogspot.com/

2) Sketch the place you have selected. Draw each of the key features you identified in your first journal entry. Label the features so that the TA/instructor can tell what they are. Scan your sketch as a PDF, JPEG, or TIFF and post it. (15 points)

Student: Addison Pollockhttp://apnjexample.blogspot.com/

3) Edward Abbey (1968, 267), commenting on the wilderness of Utah, said “How difficult to imagine this place without a human presence; how necessary. I am almost prepared to believe that this sweet virginal primitive land will be grateful for my departure and [its flora and fauna]. . . will breathe metaphorically a collective sigh of relief—like a whisper of the wind—when we are all and finally gone and the place and its creations can return to their ancient procedures unobserved and undisturbed by the busy, anxious, brooding consciousness of man.” What would your nature place have looked like had humans never touched it? (20 points)

Student: Hanna Lohmeyerhttp://hlnjexample2.blogspot.com/

4) Close your eyes. If you cannot rely on your eyesight, what would each of your other four senses tell you about your nature place? (15 points)

Student: Addison Pollockhttp://apnjexample2.blogspot.com/

5) Pretend that you have seen the entire history of your nature place pass in front of you in five minutes. What would you have seen? This entry is different from the third one because now you are now being asked to imagine a timeline and to describe how the place might have looked at different points in history. (15 points)

Student: Lauren Galluphttp://lgnjexample.blogspot.com/

6) Investigate the human history of your nature place. This may mean looking up information about the location in Indiana University historical documents, City of Bloomington resources, or histories of the state of Indiana; cite as appropriate. If there is a lack of official information about the place, speculate. Does it look like it was once used for agriculture? For waste disposal? Flood control, irrigation, recreation, construction, gardening, storage, or other purposes? Explain the evidence that forms the basis for your inference. Provide at least two digital photos or PDF/JPEG/TIFF sketches of the signs or evidence you use to infer past human uses. (25 points)+

Student: Claire VanLandinghamhttp://cvlnjexample.blogspot.com/

+Some citations in the original work were modified to reflect the conditions of permissions.

7) How is your nature place changing with the shift in seasons? Digitally photograph or sketch at least two of the new seasonal developments you identify. This entry is different than the eighth (your next journal assignment) because the next prompt will ask you about signs or evidence of animal and human use, whereas this prompt asks you to describe changes at your nature place generally. (15 points)

Student: Rebecca Mandellhttp://rmnjexample2.blogspot.com/

8) Mary Austin (1903, 52) tells us “There is always more life abroad in the winter hills than one looks to find, and much more in evidence than in summer weather.” What signs of animal, plant, and human life do you see now that the weather is turning warmer? (Keep in mind that seeing signs of wildlife or human activity is different than actually seeing wildlife or humans. Signs could include animal tracks or droppings, nests, holes, caches of food, or human footprints.) How are these signs different from those that you saw when the weather was colder? Take at least two digital photos or create at least two PDF/JPEG/TIFF sketches of the signs you can identify now in warmer weather. Do you agree with Austin that there were more signs in the winter than now? Explain why you agree or disagree. (20 points)

Student: Hanna Lohmeyerhttp://hlnjexample.blogspot.com/

9) Spend at least 15 minutes at your location sitting quietly. What animals do you observe? (Remember that insects are part of the Animal Kingdom.) Provide a digital photo or a PDF/JPEG/TIFF sketch of four animals. Look up the scientific (Latin) name of each and provide it. Choose one animal and briefly research its characteristics, behaviors, and habitat. Provide a write-up of your research with appropriate citations. If you did not see at least four animals, photograph/sketch, identify, and research those you did encounter. Then answer the following questions as well: What other animals might you have expected to find in this environment? Why would you expect this to be their habitat? Why do you think you did not observe them? (25 points)

Student: Maria Raschehttp://mrnjexample1.blogspot.com/

10) Spend at least 15 minutes at your location sitting quietly. What are the dominant forms of vegetation at this place? Provide a digital photo or a PDF/JPEG/TIFF sketch of four plants, trees, shrubs, and/or flowers. Look up the scientific (Latin) name of each and provide it. Choose one plant and briefly research its characteristics and habitat. Provide a write-up of your research with appropriate citations. If you did not find four different forms of vegetation, photograph/sketch, identify, and research those you did encounter. Then answer the following questions as well: What other plants might you have expected to find in this environment? Why would you expect this to be their habitat? Why do you think you did not observe them? (25 points)

Student: Rachel Schoenianhttp://rsnjexample1.blogspot.com/

11) How would you improve this nature place? Keep in mind that “improve” can mean anything. You could say that you would pave it and put up a big-box shopping center if you like. You could suggest removing invasive species and planting natives, creating a community garden, building trails, fencing the area to keep out pests or people, etc. But whatever you propose, explain how and why your suggestion would be an improvement. Be explicit about your definition of “improve.” (25 points)+

Student: Rebecca Mandellhttp://rmnjexample3.blogspot.com/

+The title of this journal entry was a quote from the song “Big Yellow Taxi,” originally sung by Joni Mitchell. The text in red at the start of this entry was the same quote, hyperlinked to a YouTube video featuring the song. The actual lyrics and the hyperlink, when used in the student’s original entry and in the classroom context, were considered protected by the Fair Use Doctrine because of the nonprofit and academic nature of the work. However, they have not been reproduced here so as to allay any copyright challenges.

12) What challenges does the environment in your nature place face? What are the sources of the challenges? Based on that challenges you identify, what do you think the place will look like in five years? In 10? In 15? In 20? (25 points)

Student: Danni McPherronhttp://dmnjpexample.blogspot.com

ReferencesAbbey, E. 1968. Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness. New York: Ballantine Books.